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The `Mallu' invasion
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K.PRADEEP meets Rajhen Paul and Stajan, who are bringing out the first ever album to be conceived and executed by an all-Malayali team.
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Rajhen Paul and Stajan
MANY OF our guys have made it to the top in the entertainment industry up north. But a whole new Hindi music album has been made by an all-Malayali team. The lead stars in this venture are Rajhen Paul and Stajan, from an industry that sells promises. For promise is the soul of advertisement. Admen sell promises and with some luck, the idea or the firm itself.
There are a few who try to break free from these confines. There are a few who try to give a thrust to their creativity which otherwise is reduced to those routine sales promotion campaigns. Rajhen Paul and Stajan have decided to be different.
Rajhen and Stajan have had a hard grind. From the usual still ads in print to the primary and selective commercial advertisement campaigns, they have travelled a long way.
And now, it is music albums.
This Hindi album is the first ever album to be conceived and executed by Malayalis. This and another Malayalam album are due for release in the first week of October.
"The Hindi album, `Jugnu', was a real challenge. This field is dominated, quite naturally, by north Indians. Ours is an attempt to break this exclusivity. The entire team that worked in this project are from the south. It is not the usual Hindi music albums that we see, with a lot of dancing and such stuff. We have introduced a specific theme, a message," reveals Rajhen.
Some of the popular singers such as Shaan, Vasundhara Das, Sunita Rao, Sreenivas and Sikander Ali feature in the two albums. "What makes the Hindi album unique is that there is a definite Malayali touch. The lyrics are by Vineet Pillai, who has worked on a couple of music albums earlier. Music is by Keerthi Narayanan, who is quite popular through his jingles. Sikander Ali also has a Kerala connection -- his wife is from Wayanad," says Stajan with a broad smile. The Malayalam album, `Janmangalayi', set to music by Kozhikode-based Viswanath, will be brought out by Magnasound, while a couple of music companies such as Times Music and Universal have evinced interest in the Hindi album.
"Only one song has been visualised. We shot at different locations in Kochi, Vagamon and at Somatheeram. We also had sets for the Mumbai sequences, which have been brilliantly done by Joseph Nellickal, whose debut film `Meesa Madhavan' is a runaway hit," informed Stajan.
Rajhen, who began his career as a still photographer, came into the limelight with his very first campaign. The 15-day shoot for Kerala Tourism won a clutch of awards. Five years back, he shifted base from Chennai to Kochi primarily because he had "a lot of Kerala clients", and also because carrying a lot of luggage every time he had to work for them became tough. "Advertising has not really looked up here. There is hardly any change in the attitude among those in this field. They are slowly realising that advertisement budgets can be considered an investment. There must be more professionalism and less of interference. And most importantly, one should be prepared to take risks, break rules, and experiment," says Rajhen, whose wife Geejy also contributes to the creative pursuits of their company, GG Creations.
Stajan began his career as a documentary filmmaker. "For a couple of years I worked independently before joining Rajhen five years ago. Since then, we have been making some very notable ad films. We have also set up a modern animation studio, Xtreme Details, in Chennai," says Stajan.
Music albums are the in-thing today. And the Rajhen-Stajan duo is all set to cash in on this trend. They have already begun work on a new Malayalam album, which promises to be "a fusion of traditional music and some breathtaking locales".
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